A Star is Born!

Big Girl did it!  She was cast as a Sprite in the Ballet Company production of Cinderella.  I knew she was a shoe-in!

She was thrilled, of course.  We are very proud.  This will be her 3rd time dancing with the company.  She was a mouse in the Nutcracker when she was seven, an angel in the Nutcracker last year and now she will be a sprite.  (Her dad teases her that she'll be dressed as a can of soda).

The ballet will be the middle of October.  I will try to get some pictures to post if I can get away with it.

Backs, Break-Ins and Ballet

Big Girl had a visit to Shriner's hospital on Thursday.  This was to be a regular check of her spine and we suspected a new brace would have to be made as she had grown so much it no longer fit well. 

After a looonnnggg wait we finally saw the doctor.  I can never figure out why it takes 2 hours to see the doctor when he only comes in the room for 2 minutes! 

The great news is her spine is completely straight for now and she gets to take a 6 month break from her brace.  She'll have to go back for x-rays in 6 months and may have to go back to bracing if her spine curves again.

She was ecstatic but she and dad were mad at me for giving the brace to the doctor to recycle...they had big plans for a bonfire. (You see why I was so anxious to leave it in Portland).

We had a celebration dinner at Joe's Crab Shack...a pretty fun place to eat. We went to our hotel looking forward to a trip to the coast the next day.  Our plans were quickly changed when we got a call from our alarm company.

We came home to find our basement had been broken into.  Luckily, the alarm scared them off and nothing was taken.  There was no damage.  Very scary, though.

We are now proud owners of a handgun and lessons are in my near future. I'm sure I'll be a natural.  I was pretty good at duck hunt on my playstation back in the day.

Today Big Girl is auditioning for a part in the Ballet Company's production of Cinderella.  Hopefully, later today we will have some more good news!

Orthodontia--The Sequel

Before

After

Oh, the joy of flossing a 7-year-old with braces!

Only 12 months to go!

First Day of School!

We had our first day of School on Thursday.  The kids were excited to get started with some of their new curriculum. (Homeschool mom says hopefully).

They probably wouldn't have minded a few more days of vacation.

But first, the photo shoot.

Dance started this week too.  Girls were VERY excited about that.  They have decided to take a hiatus from karate this year...good thing, too since they are taking a total of 6 dance classes between them.  Mom needs to be home to clean and cook once in a while.

 Snickers wants in on the act. 

He's not a great model...hard to shoot a moving target!

Here's to a great year!